While 27-year-old Roorkee-based scientist Nishant Agarwal was developing a missile with his colleagues at BrahMos Aerospace, Nagpur, and had just received the Young Scientist Award from the DRDO, he was suddenly arrested by the Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra Special Investigation Team (ATS) on charges of leaking BrahMos missile technology to Pakistan.
For the wife, who had married just five and a half months earlier, the morning of October 8, 2018, was like a dark night. The husband, accused of treason, spent eight years in jail, while the wife and mother spent an undeclared prison term at home. The Bombay High Court’s acquittal on December 1, 2025, brought happiness back to the family.
Kshitija Agarwal, with her mother-in-law Ritu Agarwal at her in-laws’ house in Nehru Nagar, Roorkee, explained that her husband, Nishant Agarwal, joined BrahMos Aerospace in Nagpur as a scientist in 2013. In October 2018, Nishant was awarded the Young Scientist Award by the DRDO in Delhi. He had gotten married about five and a half months earlier. Then, on the morning of October 8th, the Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra ATS knocked on their door at 4:30 a.m., searched the house, confiscated his laptop and mobile phone, and arrested Nishant.
The ground slipped from under our feet.
We were at a loss. They explained that after about nine months, a charge sheet was filed in the Nagpur Sessions Court. Six years passed in extremely difficult circumstances, and on June 3rd, 2024, when, contrary to expectations, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment, the ground slipped from under our feet, knowing that even the forensic team had found no evidence of any leakage. Despite this, we did not lose courage. We stood up again and appealed to the High Court against the decision.
Finally, the truth prevailed.
Finally, the truth prevailed, and on December 1st, 2025, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court delivered a verdict in their favor. Kshitija explained that it was not proven in court that any data was transferred from the laptop, as there was none. However, some useless material from the training period remained in the laptop, which was used as the Aadhaar card. Nishant’s mother, Ritu Agarwal, explained that after her son’s sentencing, she was breathing but not alive; she was surviving solely on faith. Kshitija Agarwal explained that her husband had refused to bring her son to jail, believing he would one day be released.
Questions were in everyone’s eyes, accusations were hurting.
The ATS team also reached Roorkee at that time and confiscated a laptop there. During that time, the gaze of the people around was hurting the wife and mother. Ritu Agarwal explained that the behavior of the neighbors had changed, but the relatives supported and trusted them.
